“Rapala Fishing Frenzy 2009” is the latest bass-fishing video game. It’s rated “E” for comic mischief and mild cartoon violence. “Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise” is an easygoing sequel to the surprise children’s hit of 2006, “Viva Piñata.” You return to Piñata Island to rebuild a computer program magically by creating unique piñatas for parties. One-half star.)Ĭontact Doug Elfman at 70 or e-mail him at He also blogs at /elfman. Rated “E” for comic mischief, mild cartoon violence. (“Wonder World Amusement Park” by Majesco retails for $40 for Wii - Plays dull and small. (“We Love Golf!” by Capcom retails for $50 for Wii - Plays fun if you like basic interactive golfing. Rated “E 10+” for animated blood, crude humor, language, mild fantasy violence. (“Space Chimps” by Brash Entertainment retails for $50 for Wii and Xbox 360 $30 for PS 2 and DS - Plays fun if you’re new to childlike, 2-D platform games. (“MLB Power Pros 2008” by Take Two retails for $40 for Wii $20 for PS 2 $30 for DS - Plays fun if you like harder baseball games, cute characters and almost no Wii wand interactivity. Easy to challenging, based on settings you choose. (“Mario Super Sluggers” by Nintendo retails for $50 for Wii - Plays fun and childlike. So why not give it to them? If even this year’s “Manhunt 2” turned the Wii wand into a bloody, violent knife, surely then every cartoony baseball game can turn the wand into a nonviolent bat. People generally buy the Wii for its interactivity. The bottom line is, not all Wii games have to be interactive to be good, but it helps. But it’s good enough for kids and gamers who are new to scrollers. It is a button-pusher, not a Wii wand-er. This summer’s Wii version of “Space Chimps” is nothing more than an old-school, double-jumping, side-scrolling platformer. Alas, these minigames are too short and poorly crafted.Ĭonversely, if a Wii game is not interactive, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. There are clunkers, like “Wonder World Amusement Park,” where the interactivity is wasted on a handful of Whac-A-Mole-type ticket-winning outings from amusement parks. Unfortunately, not all interactive Wii games work so well. You swing the wand to pitch, field, hit and run. You form a team of nine Mario characters (Luigi, Princess and the rest) for baseball set on grass, on ice, in an amusement park or in a Donkey Kong jungle. I prefer the brand-new “Mario Super Sluggers,” where characters also look something like cartoon Weebles, but the baseball game is easy to digest with its Wii-wand interactivity. So it looks playfully silly, like most interactive Wii games, but it plays realistically hard, which is a dumb combo. That might be fine, except the baseball players look like cartoon Weebles. You hold two Wii remote controls as if you were playing any other game system. Look at “MLB Power Pros 2008.” In that game, you don’t swing the Wii wand like a baseball bat. There is a tiresome little trend among other Wii games to basically ignore the interactivity of the Wii wand - even though interactivity is the Wii’s most compelling feature. This sounds obvious, if you know anything about the interactivity of the Wii. You stand up, you swing the wand, the game reads your swing via the wireless wand, and the golf ball goes “whee.” What I mean is, you use the Wii wand as a golf club. “Golf” firmly embraces the fact that it is a Wii game. “We Love Golf!” isn’t a great game, but there is something great about it. So I walked into my house and started playing the merely virtual interactivity of “We Love Golf!” on my Wii, which is also a true story. I wasn’t hurt, but I wasn’t thrilled with this particular kind of golf interactivity. Some joke of a golfer beaned me on the brain. I was sitting by my pool, next to a golf course where part of “Casino” was filmed, and it finally happened. I got hit on the head by a golf ball the other day.
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